Perfect
by Ellie603
Summary: Monica is in Richard's apartment trying to figure out what to do. Chandler seems intent on never getting married, and Richard, out of nowhere, has decided that he wants to spend his life with her. As she goes to think things over, Monica has to decide what really is important to her as she wonders why Chandler has been acting differently. A missing moment from "TOW the Proposal"


_A/N: This is my third Mondler missing moment fic (if you haven't read them, check out "The Love of Her Life" and "Ready" which deal with Monica's lunch with Richard before her and Chandler's anniversary and Chandler's decision to propose to Monica after the Morgan Chase Museum thing), and __I have one more really small one to write for right after the proposal, and then a couple more for later episodes, plus some "what if" type fics that I'm really excited about. But seriously, thank you guys so much for the lovely reviews on the stuff I've written so far. I really hope you guys enjoy this too!_

_Disclaimer: I still don't own _Friends_, but some dialogue is taken from "TOW the Proposal."_

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Monica stood, confused, in Richard's apartment, a drink in her hand. She felt as though life as she knew it was shattering into a million pieces all around her. Richard had come into her restaurant and told her that he loved her and wanted to marry her and have kids with her, meanwhile Chandler kept going on about how marriage was just a way for the government to keep tabs on people and that the whole thing was "unnatural." And when she had asked Chandler, point blank, if he was really telling her that he may never want to get married, he had replied with "probably, yeah, never."

It was all too much for Monica to take.

She looked around her. "I miss this apartment!" she started speaking, angry at her situation. "This is a grown-up's apartment. Now, I should _be_ with a grown-up, do you know what I mean?" She turned to Richard.

"Yeah," he replied, walking toward her, carrying his own drink, "you're saying you need to be with someone more mature."

Monica nodded, more to herself than to Richard.

"Someone with a license to practice medicine," Richard suggested, "or a mustache!" He smiled at her, but she didn't return it.

"No, let's face it." Monica put down her drink. "I'm not a kid anymore!" She gestured outward with both hands. "I need to be with someone who wants the same things that I do." She thought for a moment. "I mean coming to my place of work and telling me that you love me, I want that!" Her mind turned to the conversation she had had with Chandler following Richard's confession. "Talking about pig sex over lunch, I don't want that!"

"I think that's fair," Richard said, taking a sip of his drink.

Monica didn't share his opinion. "Fair?" she replied, frustrated, "don't even talk to me about fair." She took a breath. "Fair would have been you wanting to marry me back then, or fair would be Chandler wanting to marry me now! Believe me, nothing about this is fair! Nothing!" As she thought about her situation she grew more and more upset, repeating "nothing" over and over, until Richard pulled her in for a hug.

"Shhh, it's okay," Richard said softly, "hey, hey, shhh." He held the back of her head protectively in his hand.

"Nothing," Monica added, one final time into his shirt.

The pair broke apart enough to see each other's faces.

Richard stared down into Monica's eyes, and she knew that he wanted to kiss her. But she couldn't; she had to think about her options.

She looked away from Richard and moved back from him slightly. "I don't know. Uh…" she trailed off.

"I know," Richard said, disappointed but understanding.

"Yeah, I… I have to figure some… ya know… some stuff, before I can." She gestured with her hands at Richard.

"Yeah, I understand," he replied, frowning. "Take as much time as you want: ten, even twenty minutes if you need it," he added, half joking. "I'll be here. Not smoking."

Monica stared at him for a moment and then left his apartment wordlessly.

She was able to make it to the street and get a cab before she started crying. How had her life become this complicated? Just a couple days before, everything had been perfect. She had been happily having dinner with her boyfriend of almost two years who she loved more than she had ever loved anyone and who loved her back just as much. And now, here she was, sobbing in the back of a taxi with a boyfriend who said he didn't believe in marriage and an ex-boyfriend from four years ago saying he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. _What is happening to me?_ she asked herself, her face buried in her arms to try to muffle her sobs.

She thought of Richard: mature, easy-going, his life already completely on track, and, most importantly, ready to get married and have kids with her. She thought back to the happy months they had been together. Yes, he was so much older than she was, but it just meant that he was more sophisticated and on top of things. He was successful. He had money. Being with him would be easy. They knew each other so well, and, of course, she had been completely in love with him. Their break up had been the hardest thing she had ever had to do, but it wouldn't matter if she married him. He had been the love of her life, after all. It would make so much sense, and since Chandler clearly didn't want to get married, what was stopping her from doing this with Richard?

_And there's my problem,_ she sighed to herself, wiping tears from her eyes, _Chandler._ The year before, she had eaten lunch with Richard, and during the half hour or so they spent eating their sandwiches, Monica had been happy to see him, but she hadn't felt anything for him. Absolutely nothing. She had thought of Chandler instead during that lunch, of how much she loved him, of how perfect for each other they were. Monica had been with Chandler at least three or four times longer than she had been with Richard. They had gone through so much together. There had been the months of hiding their relationship from their friends as they fell completely in love with each other. There had been their decision to move in together, which Monica had been nothing but happy about. Sure, Chandler was a little immature with all his jokes and sarcasm, but that was part of what Monica loved about him. He balanced her out. And he was the sweetest and most caring person she had ever met. She couldn't imagine her life without him.

Not everything with Chandler was easy, but the pair had worked so hard at their relationship over the past two years. From their little disagreement at the very beginning of their relationship in the hospital when Phoebe had the triplets and Rachel had gotten Monica a date with a nurse, to just a few weeks before when Chandler freaked out because Monica had put their names down on a waiting list to get married at the Morgan Chase Museum, they had gotten through all of it together. Every fight ended in a hug or an "I love you," every mistake or freak out from Chandler ended in a sincere apology, and the same could be said for Monica, who had done her fair share of stupid things throughout the course of their relationship. Chandler was her best friend in the entire world, and nothing was worth losing that. He was the one she loved, not Richard.

Monica calmed down slightly, her tears decreasing in volume, as she realized that she had no feelings for Richard anymore, she just loved the things he was offering, which, she found, honestly wouldn't be worth it in long run if she had them with someone who wasn't perfect for her.

But what about Chandler and this crusade against marriage he seemed intent on pursuing? It just didn't make any sense. The year before when they were in Vegas, she remembered a smiling Chandler looking at a die on the floor of a casino telling her that it was a four, that he wanted to get married to her that night. How was that the same person as the Chandler at lunch earlier who had said that marriage was unnatural and then compared it to the mating habits of pigs? She remembered his concern several months before when she had discovered that he couldn't cry. He had casually used them getting married as an example of when his lack of tears would be a real problem, mentioning their marriage in a such a way that made it seem to be not just a possibility, but rather an inevitability. But then there was Chandler from the day before saying that marriage was completely unnecessary, accompanied by some comments about it only being for the benefit of the government. _It's like he's a completely different person now,_ she thought, conflicted. Even just a few weeks before when Chandler had come back to the apartment after getting freaked out about Monica putting their names down to get married at the museum, he had just said that he wasn't ready for it yet, not that he would never be ready. There had always been an unspoken understanding that they would get married someday in any discussion they had had about the subject recently. But then there was Joey today telling her that Chandler was "unlikely to take a wife." Everything had suddenly become so confusing.

If Chandler had changed so completely, then maybe she should go back to Richard. Just because she didn't love him anymore didn't mean she never could again. Of course, getting over Chandler would be even harder than getting over Richard had been. _Oh no,_ she realized, rubbing her eyes and raising her head, _I can't go through that again. I can't lose Chandler; I just can't._

She needed to talk to him to try to figure this out. Maybe the whole museum thing had freaked him out more than he had said. Maybe this was just his way of trying to deal with commitment. I mean, it was Chandler after all; she was lucky to have him even living with her, any thought of marriage aside.

The taxi finally reached her building, and Monica wiped the last few tears from her cheeks as she paid the driver and stepped out onto the street. She had to go find Chandler and try to figure all this out.

Monica climbed the stairs to the apartment, sniffling, though mercifully not crying anymore.

As she reached the hallway, Joey, Rachel, and Phoebe suddenly rushed at her, all talking at once.

"Chandler's out trying to find you!" Joey yelled, clearly upset.

"He tried to propose the other night, but Richard interrupted him," Monica heard from a distraught sounding Rachel.

"He was just trying to surprise you!" Phoebe shouted above the others.

Each of her friends grew louder and Monica could only hear words and phrases through the jumble of her friends' ramblings. She heard her and Chandler's names several times, as well as the phrases "see your hands," "throw you off," and, very loudly from Joey, "you can't marry RICHARD!"

"Guys! GUYS!" Monica interrupted her friends exasperatedly. "I can't understand what you all are saying!"

Joey, Phoebe, and Rachel looked at each other quickly, and Joey nodded.

He started speaking rapidly. "Chandler wanted to propose to you the other night at the restaurant, but then Richard interrupted you so he couldn't. And then back at the apartment we all asked to see your hands because we thought you were engaged, and then Chandler thought that you were going to get suspicious because who asks to see another person's hand, ya know? Then Phoebe said he should try to throw you off and convince you that he was still afraid of commitment, and he thought that was a great idea, so me and him started talking about how stupid marriage was, just so that when he finally proposed tonight, it would be a huge surprise!" Joey stopped talking to take several deep, panting breaths.

Monica stared at him, her jaw slack and her eyes wide. "Chandler… Chandler was going to propose?" she said, understanding creeping into her face as the ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. "He actually wants to get married?"

"He actually does!" Phoebe said, insistently, smiling hugely at her friend. "He's been planning it for weeks now. I helped him pick out the ring." She held her head up proudly.

"Oh my God." Monica brought her hands over her mouth as a smile grew wider and wider on her face. "Chandler wants to marry me… he wants to MARRY me!" She gestured her hands wide with her fingers outstretched as tears welled up in her eyes again. "I can't believe this!" She leaned her head against her hand for a moment. "Oh, thank God!" she sighed, gratefully.

"Nothing happened with Richard, right?" Rachel said, cautiously.

Monica shook her head, frowning slightly. "I went over there, but then I told him I needed time to figure things out." She took a deep breath and ran her hands down her face. Then she looked back at her friends, a small smile present on her face again. "I don't love Richard anymore; it was just the idea of getting marriage and having kids that I cared about, but I realized when I was coming back here that if it's not with Chandler, I don't want any of it. Getting married to someone who isn't Chandler and having kids with someone who isn't Chandler just aren't things I ever could do."

Joey's face broke into a huge smile, as he sighed, clearly relieved. "I was so worried that this was going to mess everything, and then I was blaming myself for saying how against marriage Chandler was and for letting you leave and go to Richard's earlier. I'm just so glad everything's gonna be okay."

Phoebe put a hand on his back comfortingly.

Monica couldn't stop smiling. Her whole life made sense again. Chandler was just trying to throw her off course so that when he proposed, he would have surprised her! Everything was great; she was going to get married! She just needed Chandler to propose. She suddenly realized that she didn't actually know where Chandler was.

"Um, guys, where _is_ Chandler?" she asked, confused.

Joey's face fell and his eyes looked worried. "He's out looking for you. He grabbed the ring and said he was just going to propose as soon as he found you. I think he probably went to Richard's." Joey looked horrified at the thought.

"Oh no," Monica said, her smile leaving her face. "But he's not going to do anything crazy like try to fight _Richard_, is he?"

Joey shrugged, looking at the ground. "I mean, he knows that's a bad idea, but he seemed so upset when he left that I don't know what's gonna happen."

Monica shook her head. "I hope he's okay." She thought for a moment. "But then he'll come back, and we can talk, and everything's going to be fine."

Rachel and Phoebe nodded at her encouragingly, with slightly forced smiles on their faces.

Monica looked at Joey for a moment, considering something. "Wait, Joey, you said that he wanted to propose as soon as he found me?"

Joey nodded, still looking concerned for his missing friend.

"So that means if I'm here, he'll do it when he gets back here, right?" Monica said, a plan beginning to form in her mind.

"I guess so, yeah," replied Joey.

"Well why don't we give him that surprise he wanted?" A grin began to grow on her face as her friends stared at her blankly. She explained herself. "Why don't you stand in the hallway when Chandler gets back, Joey, and tell him that I left to go to my parents or something to think things over, and that you tried to explain everything to me, but I wouldn't listen. And then he can go into the apartment, and I'll be in there and propose – surprise!" She gestured with her hands as if she were someone at a surprise party jumping out from behind a sofa.

"Oooo!" Phoebe said, clapping her hands together excitedly. "That sounds fun!"

"Oh, and we can light candles all around the apartment so it's beautiful and romantic!" Rachel suggested dramatically, smiling.

"Perfect!" Monica exclaimed, practically bouncing. "Let's get to work!"

The four friends began to gather candles from all around both the apartments, placing them on stands and on every counter, table, and flat surface in the apartment, even putting some out on the balcony. Rachel and Phoebe each took a lighter and began to light the candles.

"Oh, it's so beautiful, Mon," Rachel said as the gang stood in the kitchen several minutes later, the candles lit and the lights off.

Monica felt tears well up in her eyes again, knowing that she was not going to be able to get through the proposal without crying. "It is beautiful, isn't it?" She grabbed a tissue from the table to try to wipe up some of the tears that had begun to trickle down her cheeks.

Rachel put her arm around her. "Are you ready for this, Monica?"

Monica blew her nose quickly into the tissue and turned to her friend, nodding. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Rachel hugged her, and Joey and Phoebe quickly joined in.

"Okay," Monica said, extricating herself from her friends' hug, "here's what we need to do. Rachel and Phoebe stay at Joey's and pretend you aren't here."

Rachel and Phoebe nodded seriously.

"Joey, you need to be doing something normal when Chandler gets here. Be halfway out the door taking out your trash or something, and then tell him that I left because he and I want different things. Say that I took a bag with me, and that I'm going to stay with my parents to think, and that he shouldn't call me. But then say that you think that he should call, to be convincing. And when he asks why you didn't tell me what happened, say that you did but I didn't believe you. Tell him that you're sorry and act really sad. You got all that, Joe?"

"Got it," Joey affirmed, nodding, his smile still evident under his sober façade.

"Great." Monica took a deep breath. "Let's do this."

Joey, Rachel, and Phoebe left the apartment, and Monica heard the door to Joey's open. She turned away from the door and walked into the living room, planning what exactly she needed to do when Chandler came in.

She figured that she should be the one to propose, since this was her surprise for him. She would do the whole "down on one knee" thing too, just to keep it all semi-traditional. But she also had to figure out what to say.

She thought of all the amazing things about Chandler. How he was so sweet and so compassionate and how much she loved being with him. She thought about how he could always make her smile and how she had known for a while now that he was the person she was meant to spend the rest of her life with. He was her best friend, the love of her life. They were perfect together.

_I think I can make a nice little proposal speech from that_, she thought to herself, still sniffling from all the crying she had done in the past hour.

Then she heard noises in the hallway: Joey's door closing and him calling "dude," she figured, to Chandler.

A few seconds later her assumption conformed as she heard Chandler's raised voice. "Why didn't you stop her? Why didn't you just tell her it was a plan?"

Joey seemed to be performing his part admirably, saying words that Monica couldn't make out in a tone that was clearly meant to calm Chandler down.

Both voices in the hall stopped, and Monica realized that Chandler was about to come into the apartment. She turned to face the door, the tears returning to her eyes. This was it.

Chandler walked through the door and saw her, his mouth falling open as he slowed his pace and stopped at the edge of the living room.

"You wanted it to be a surprise," Monica said in explanation.

Chandler turned to Joey who raised his eyebrows, smiling, as he shut the door.

"Oh my God," Chandler said simply, walking over to stand in front of her. It seemed to Monica as though he was fighting between smiling and crying. She understood the feeling.

Monica stared at Chandler, the most important person in her entire world, and got down on one knee.

"Chandler," she began, already getting choked up, "in all my life, I never thought I would be so lucky..." Tears had started to fill her eyes as she looked down and brushed her hair out of her face, trying to compose herself. "As to fall in love with my best…" She was having a hard time getting the words out. "My best," she tried again, and then found herself so overcome with emotion that she couldn't speak at all. "There's a reason why girls don't do this!" she cried, sobbing and sniffling, looking up at Chandler.

"Okay, okay," Chandler knelt down in front of her, taking her hands in his. "I'll do it."

They both sat back on their legs as Chandler began. "I thought…" He stopped, like Monica, clearly so choked up that he couldn't speak. He made a noise that Monica assumed was supposed to be the word "wait," as he held up a finger to better express that. "I can do this!"

The pair both laughed in spite of the tears that were clouding their vision.

"I thought," he began again, more clearly this time, "that it mattered, what I said or where I said it, then I realized the only thing that matters is that you," he paused, getting more emotional as he stared into Monica's eyes, "you make me happier than I ever thought I could be, and, if you let me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you feel the same way."

Monica smiled at him as much as she could through her tears, as Chandler released her hands and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, blue-grey, velvet covered box.

He opened it, and Monica let out a breath, almost gasping as she saw the beautiful ring in Chandler's hands.

He sniffled and wiped his noise with the back of the hand not holding the ring box. "Monica," he said, locking eyes with her as she sniffled too, "will you marry me?"

She breathed out, smiling hugely. "Yes," she answered in a voice thick from crying.

Chandler grinned back at her as he took the ring from the box and slid it slowly onto her left hand.

She glanced at it for a moment and then looked back to Chandler, as the pair leaned in and met in an embrace, kissing and hugging as Monica tried to make herself stop sobbing.

She moved back from her now fiancée so she could see his face. "I knew you were likely to take a wife!" she said enthusiastically in reference to Joey's comment from earlier, before pulling Chandler into another hug.

"Can we come in yet? We're dying out here!" Joey's voice came drifting loudly through the door from the hallway.

Chandler looked around, surprised, as Monica called for her friends to come in.

Joey, Phoebe, and Rachel stepped through the door quickly, hopeful smiles on their faces as they waited for affirmation.

"We're engaged!" Monica said ecstatically, moving across the room to her friends who started clapping and cheering excitedly.

The five met in a huge hug, Joey clapping Chandler on the back happily.

"Oh," Rachel said, beaming at her friends, "this is the least jealous I've ever been!"

After a second Phoebe gasped. "Oh no, wait, no, this is wrong! Ross isn't here!"

The five broke apart, momentarily concerned at the fact that they were missing the gang's sixth member.

They looked at each other, unsure of what to do for a second, before Rachel broke in. "Oh, hell, he's done this three times, he knows what it's about!"

The other four assented loudly to this and returned to their hug.

Monica could feel Chandler beside her place a kiss into her hair. She couldn't believe it. She was engaged. Engaged! And not to Richard, but to Chandler: the guy who she knew, without a doubt, was meant for her. She felt like she could fly if she wanted to. Somehow a day that a couple of hours ago had seemed like a complete disaster had become the best day of her life.

She and Chandler were going to spend the rest of their lives together. Everything was perfect.

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_A/N: Thanks for reading, and be sure to review!_


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